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Del. Tech. Park to build at STAR campus

A view inside the Phase II building at UD’s STAR Campus on Del. 896. The building is to house 10,000 square fee of space for wet labs, developer Ernie Delle Donne said Monday.(Photo: SUCHAT PEDERSON/THE NEWS JOURNAL)Buy Photo

The Delaware Technology Park will build a 10,000-square-foot wet lab at the University of Delaware's science and technology campus with the help of a $3 million, 10-year state loan that officials say will serve as an "incubator" that launches promising small research companies on pathways to viability.

The wet lab, which can be subdivided into tiny lab spaces, will be located on the first floor of the new "Phase II" building at UD's Science, Technology and Advanced Research adjunct campus, known as STAR. It will be devoted to hosting what park president Mike Bowman called 10 to 12 "early stage" life sciences companies that he hopes will begin to flourish, outgrow their spaces and become significant contributors to the state economy, leaving room for others to move and hopefully repeat that success.

"What we're looking for is the opportunity to bring them in, grow them up, spin them back out, and repeat that process again," Bowman told members of the Council on Development Finance, which unanimously approved the loan during a public hearing Monday at the state's Buena Vista conference center. "So it's kind of the gift that keeps on giving."

At least 25 of the 80 companies the park has housed in its base location east of UD over the past 22 years have similarly grown and moved on, Bowman said. The new wet lab will be devoted to much smaller enterprises doing research in areas ranging from renewable energy to advanced materials to "you name it," Bowman said.

"I'm elated," he said after the hearing. "It's been a passion of mine. ... This is where I believe the future of Delaware resides, in helping scaling [technology] businesses get going ... and keeping what we've spawned from either the universities or the corporations here, or attracting them in from elsewhere, like Europe. And now we have a place to do that."

"I think it's a very, very positive development," said Charlie Riordan, UD's deputy provost for research and scholarship. "And all at the university are quite excited for the opportunities that this will present for the region. We have needed wet lab space in the area for some time."

"We're really pleased," said Ernie Delle Donne of Delle Donne Associates, which is developing 18 acres of STAR, including the Phase II building. "Can't wait to get 'em in there."

The companies could take many different forms – corporate spinoffs, university spinoffs, and relocating companies formed by venture capital are current possibilities, said Tracy Shickel, a Philadelphia-area marketer who speaks on behalf of the park and assists Bowman with business development. All will be quite small.

"Imagine two- or three-person companies," said Shickel. "They need lab space. And they need to do experimentation or laboratory work in order to either sell to customers, or to prove out their technology to secure intellectual property [rights]. There's any number of business models that could happen."

"We think the kind of company we bring in will be looking at a 250-square-foot lab versus 25,000 square feet," Bowman said. "That's what people don't have ... nobody can find these little labs to get going."

Such labs exist in Philadelphia, for instance, but lab space there is "very, very expensive," said Shickel. "So this is kind of a first of its kind in Delaware."

A combination of factors brought Bowman's long effort to fruition. The Phase II building at STAR is devoted to commercial business. The location was perfect, as was what Bowman termed Delle Donne's willingness to work with him on the concept.

Funding was another thing entirely. Bowman said Delaware Technology Park didn't qualify for a grant because the state can't provide capital to nonprofit groups.

"So I had to figure out a mechanism," he said. "That journey took about three years."

The Strategic Fund loan, which must be repaid in 10 years, is the state's investment in this incubator concept. The companies accepted will all be carefully vetted. Meanwhile, the loan gets the low-profit enterprise off the ground by funding the construction of expensive lab spaces, which require the equipment needed to contain and study chemicals, solvents and biological materials, as well as specialized ventilation.

Delle Donne, along with builder Stephen Mockbee, is developing STAR out of their own pockets. Without the state loan, he said, "It might have become more of a, quote, normal-type space. Plus, we don't have the expertise to attract, develop and handle these researchers like the Delaware Technology Park does."

First things first, however: Delle Donne said he has to add another 3,000 square feet to the back side of the existing Phase II building to accommodate the wet lab's needs.

Bowman said he has interest from more than a dozen companies based in locations ranging from Pennsylvania and Europe, as well as at UD and Dupont. He said he expects the lab spaces to become operational this year.

Contact William H. McMichael at (302) 324-2812 or bmcmichael@delawareonline.com. On Twitter: @billmcmichael